Sunderland battled back from a poor start to hold Southampton to a 2-2 draw in a pulsating game at the Stadium of Light. Saints dominated the first half and carved out a 2-0 lead The Black Cats improved after the break and drew level on 71 minutes .

Spain midfielder Santi Cazorla struck twice in the second half as Arsenal beat
Fulham 2-0 to stay ahead of Manchester City at the top of the Barclays Premier League. Fulham - who made the expected sweeping changes from their midweek FA Cup third-round replay win over Norwich - had never won in any competition at Arsenal, losing 22 of their trips so far to north London.

Tony Pulis masterminded a 1-0 victory over his former club Stoke as
Crystal Palace moved out of the bottom three of the Premier League. The result sees the Eagles not only move off the foot of the table, but out of the relegation zone while Stoke slip to 13th.

Premiership table
- after 21st Jan 2014

Pos

Team

Pld

W

D

L

F

A

W

D

L

F

A

GD

Pts

1

Arsenal

22

8

2

1

20

6

8

1

2

23

13

24

51

2

Man City

22

11

0

0

42

8

5

2

4

21

17

38

50

3

Chelsea

22

10

1

0

25

9

5

3

3

18

11

23

49

4

Liverpool

22

9

1

1

29

8

4

3

4

24

20

25

43

5

Tottenham

22

5

3

3

13

13

8

1

2

16

13

3

43

6

Everton

22

7

3

1

21

9

4

6

1

14

11

15

42

7

Man Utd

22

5

2

4

14

10

6

2

3

22

17

9

37

8

Newcastle

22

5

3

3

17

12

6

0

5

15

16

4

36

9

Southampton

22

5

3

3

17

12

3

4

4

12

13

4

31

10

Aston Villa

22

2

2

7

8

16

4

4

3

14

13

-7

24

11

Hull

22

5

3

3

15

8

1

2

8

7

20

-6

23

12

Norwich

22

4

3

4

11

11

2

2

7

7

24

-17

23

13

West Brom

22

3

4

4

13

13

1

6

4

11

16

-5

22

14

Stoke

22

4

5

2

14

12

1

2

8

8

24

-14

22

15

Swansea

22

2

4

5

19

20

3

2

6

8

13

-6

21

16

C. Palace

22

4

2

5

9

14

2

0

9

5

17

-17

20

17

Fulham

22

3

1

7

14

22

3

0

8

8

26

-26

19

18

West Ham

22

2

3

6

13

19

2

3

6

9

14

-11

18

19

Sunderland

22

2

2

7

12

19

2

4

5

9

17

-15

18

20

Cardiff

22

3

3

5

10

17

1

3

7

7

21

-21

18

Edin Dzeko scored Manchester City's 100th goal of the season as they won 4-2 at home to
Cardiff in the Premier League. However, City failed to return to the top of the table after Arsenal won 2-0 at home to Fulham, while Cardiff now prop up the top flight.

A late header from defender Ryan Bennett moved Norwich five points clear of the Barclays Premier League relegation zone as the Canaries eventually saw off
Hull City at Carrow Road. The defender rose above Alex Bruce to meet a Robert Snodgrass corner in the 86th minute to give Norwich a 1-0 victory as they move up to 12th in the Premier League standings.

Newcastle United got back to winning ways with a 3-1 victory at Upton Park which pushed
West Ham United into the Premier League drop zone. Yohan Cabaye and Loic Remy made the most of the Magpies' control in the first half to open up a commanding lead, and the Hammers were unable to build on the lifeline of a Mike Williamson own goal as they conceded a third late on.

Liverpool came from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw with
Aston Villa in an entertaining Premier League clash at Anfield.
Villa raced into a deserved 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Andreas Weimann and Christian Benteke, but Daniel Sturridge pulled a goal back right on the stroke of half-time. Liverpool won a penalty early in the second half as Luis Suarez went down in the box under a challenge from Brad Guzan and Steven Gerrard scored from the spot.

Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice as Tottenham claimed a fifth straight Premier League away win with a 3-1 victory over
Swansea at the Liberty Stadium. The win moves Tottenham up to fifth, level on points with fourth-placed Liverpool as Sherwood, who opted against sticking with a 4-4-2 formation here, remained unbeaten in the Premier League since taking over from Andre Villas-Boas.

Samuel Eto'o's first hat-trick in Premier League football gave Chelsea a 3-1 win over
Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. The three points sees Chelsea move back to within touching distance of leaders Arsenal and second placed Manchester City - although the win - Jose Mourinho's 100th in the Premier League - does mean the top three are now six points clear. United stay seventh, six points adrift of fourth place and 14 points off the top and the defence of their title surely now looks in tatters.

Diego Lugano's header denied Everton a place in the top four and gave Pepe Mel a point in his first game as
West Brom coach after a 1-1 draw at The Hawthorns against a misfiring Everton side who briefly had one foot in the Champions League places when Kevin Mirallas fired them into a first-half lead.

Saturday 18 January 2014

12:45 Sunderland (1) 2 Southampton (2) 2 ~ BTSports 1

The day's early kick-off saw Sunderland mount an excellent comeback which saw them claim a 2-2 draw with Southampton.

The Saints dominated the opening 45 minutes and raced into a two-goal lead thanks to Jay Rodriguez and a clinical finish from Dejan Lovren.

Sunderland replied, though, straight after Lovren's goal when Fabio Borini fired home with their first shot of the game. The leveller then came 19 minutes from time as Adam Johnson smashed into the top corner, although Artur Boruc will feel he could have done better with both goals.

The game was marred late on by two serious-looking injuries for Soutampton as Lovren and second-half substitute Gaston Ramirez were stretchered off.

If Arsenal's win was far from convincing, then free-scoring Man City had a surprisingly tough day against Cardiff - despite the scoreline suggesting otherwise.

City dominated the early stages and they went ahead after just 14 minutes after great work from David Silva saw him pull the ball back for Edin Dzeko to dispatch, although goal-line technology was called in to give the goal.

Suddenly Cardiff came to life and they levelled on the half-hour mark through Craig Noone. Aron Gunnarsson slipped a great ball inside and Noone cut in past Vincent Kompany and finished at his near post.

City restored the lead just before the interval and there was a touch of luck about Jesus Navas's goal as Steven Caulker made a good block on Edin Dzeko, but the clearance bounced into the stride of the Spaniard and he slammed it home. Both sides had chances in the second half, and Joe Hart had plenty of work to do to keep City ahead - but City's class told in the end as they eased to the three points thanks to a further two goals.

Firstly a classic counter-attack saw Yaya Toure stroke the ball home and then the returning Sergio Aguero fired home on his comeback appearance. There was time for Fraizer Campbell to add another in injury time and it was some consolation for Cardiff who turned in a good display.

Newcastle went ahead 16 minutes in as Yohan Cabaye finished neatly into the corner after good work from Yoan Gouffran.
Newcastle doubled their lead just after the half-hour as Loic Remy took down a cross from Moussa Sissoko in the six-yard box and fired past Adrian.

West Ham got themselves back into the game just before the break when Tim Krul failed to deal with a cross and Carlton Cole looked to poke it home, but it went in off Mike Williamson.
Newcastle wrapped up the win in the final minute when Cabaye added his second with a curling free-kick which was too good for Adrian to keep out.

Liverpool were unable to strengthen their grip on fourth spot, but recovered from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Aston Villa at Anfield.

Villa had sprung a surprise on their last visit to the red half of Merseyside, and looked like repeating those heroics as they surged in front.
Andreas Weimann tapped home the opener before Simon Mignolet badly misjudged a cross from Gabriel Agbonlahor and Christian Benteke stooped to nod into an empty net.

Liverpool grabbed a lifeline in first-half stoppage-time, with Jordan Henderson cleverly flicking into the path of Daniel Sturridge to produce a composed, chipped finish.
Parity was restored eight minutes into the second half, with Luis Suarez tumbling over a sliding Brad Guzan and Steven Gerrard making no mistake from the penalty spot, but there was to be no thrilling finish for the hosts.

Emmanuel Adebayor grabbed a brace as Tottenham won 3-1 at the Liberty Stadium to compound Swansea's relegation fears. The striker headed Spurs into a 35th-minute lead and then tapped in their third after a Chico Flores own goal had doubled the visitors' lead.

Wilfried Bony hit the bar and had a good penalty appeal for a push by Michael Dawson turned down in the first half, before getting Swansea's consolation late on.

The win moves Tottenham up to fifth, level on points with fourth-placed Liverpool as Tim Sherwood, who opted against sticking with a 4-4-2 formation here, remained unbeaten in the Premier League since taking over from Andre Villas-Boas.

Chelsea inflicted a knockout blow on Manchester United's hopes of making a successful defence of the Premier League and kept their own title bid on track with a comprehensive victory at Stamford Bridge.

Jose Mourinho's side moved two points behind leaders Arsenal after Samuel Eto'o scored a hat-trick -- his fourth, fifth and sixth Premier League goals of the season -- in a 3-1 win which exposed United's shortcomings and left them 14 points adrift of the summit.

Perhaps more crucial for David Moyes and United, whose reply came from substitute Javier Hernandez, is the deficit to the Champions League qualification places. Seventh-placed United sit six points behind fourth-placed Liverpool and fifth-placed Tottenham with 16 games remaining

Diego Lugano's header denied Everton a place in the top four and gave Pepe Mel a point in his first game as West Brom coach after a 1-1 draw at The Hawthorns. The Uruguay international's 75th-minute header secured a 1-1 draw against a misfiring Everton side who briefly had one foot in the Champions League places when Kevin Mirallas fired them into a first-half lead.

Mel found himself having to earn his money almost immediately as, against a backdrop of off-field issues, he coaxed an improved second-half performance out of his side which could have easily also produced a winner.

Everton tried to respond, sending on new signing Aiden McGeady for his debut late on, and although Gareth Barry's shot was diverted into the net with the last kick of the game by Distin the defender was clearly offside. The draw sees Everton remain in sixth place, while Albion climb to 13th.